Here comes the A-C-T Blog! Here I give you an Awe moment from research or own experience, a Citation supporting the topic and a Take away for you to ponder on.

Awe moment

In our modern ‘always-on’ lives, we constantly feel like we could do more, while feeling busy at the same time. Whether this is caused by external or internal pressure, or comparison of ourselves vs. what others have achieved, it often leads to stress and anxiety, ultimately preventing us from doing what’s most important and eventually, leading to burnout (Kane, 2019).
While many of us may think of ourselves as great multitaskers, in reality only about 2% of us can multitask while the majority of us tend to ‘task switch’. According to one study on ‘task switching’, attempted multitasking makes us 40% less efficient (Robinstein, et al., 2001)! True productivity in today’s world encompasses a multitude of skills: organisation, time management and prioritisation as well as the ability to focus and minimise distractions, leading us to the million dollar question: How are we going to do it all? 

Citation

“The key is not to prioritise what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.”

Stephen Covey

Take Away

Each of us have a unique set of skills, goals, dreams and abilities. It’s time to factor in what’s important to each of us individually and find a manageable and effective way to move forward. Here are some useful things to consider, for improving your productivity. 

Saying ‘no’. You can’t say ‘no’ until you know your ‘yes’. Consider your values and what you want to make time for as a priority. Shed light on things based on your true values to make it easier to see what to say ‘no’ to.

Manage your priorities in a To-Do list and time block where possible. This will keep you on-track and accountable but only if you are realistic with the expectations of yourself. With the time you have available, for example, if you are a parent or have an unpredictable job, give yourself a window of time to do a task, be flexible, wake up earlier or sacrifice what you can and delegate out where possible. Making the tasks as easy and pleasant to do will also reduce the resistance you’ll face when it comes to actually doing it.

Use technology to keep yourself organised. Some great tools I use myself are, Microsoft / Google Tasks (daily for work), Trello (weekly and monthly for my businesses) and a phone Calendar with reminders (daily, for personal tasks such as workouts, breaks, etc.)

Mono-task, don’t multitask. We really do our best work when we are focused, so factor this in when managing your to-do-list. If a task needs a quiet environment or for you to be in a specific frame of mind, think what times of the day/ week will this be easiest to do? Once you’ve chosen that, minimise as many, if not all distractions you can.

What single action can you take tomorrow to be more productive? 
*Add your answer to tomorrow’s to-do list*

Fancy a challenge? Ask yourself this question every day for 1 week!

Until next week,

Nela Ferreira
Founder of Elev8 Networks,
CPD Certified Life Coach,
Self-Development enthusiast

References

Kane, L., 2019. Medscape dermatologist lifestyle, happiness & burnout report 2019. [Online] 
Available at: https://www.medscape.com/slideshow/2019-lifestyle-dermatologist-6011111

Robinstein, J., Meyer, D. & Evans, J., 2001. Executive control of cognitive processes in task switching. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 27(4), pp. 763-797.